Due to the courthouse fire that destroyed his birth certificate, no-one's sure of Mr Jack's exact birth date. All that's known is it was sometime in September 1850 so the good folk at Jack Daniel's celebrate all month long culminating in the Birthday JD Set, the ultimate birthday celebration. This year Hugh Cornwell, Roisin Murphy, Tim Wheeler and House of Lords (Young Knives) will perform together with Jack Daniel's 'New Silver Cornet Band' on the 18th October 2008 at the distillery - where every drop of Jack is made.

The 2008 birthday line up is the most eclectic yet, featuring a combination of vocalists who would never normally appear on the same bill let alone deliver a unique collaboration live on stage:

- Hugh Cornwell is the original guitarist, singer and main songwriter in The Stranglers. He enjoyed massive success with ten hit albums and twenty-one top forty singles in the 17-year period he was with the band.

- Tim Wheeler is frontman to indie rockers Ash. Ash have five top 10 albums and 16 top 40 singles under their belt.

- Experimental singer-songwriter Roisin Murphy shot to fame with electronic dance outfit, 'Moloko' and has since released two solo albums.

- House of Lords AKA Tom Dartnell from Young Knives is best known for his tweeds and critically acclaimed brand of geek rock.

They'll each perform a selection of unforgettable solos and one off collaborations backed by 'The New Silver Cornet Band' which is put together as a celebration of Mr Jack's original Silver Cornet Band formed by the man himself 1892. The New Silver Cornet Band is made up of six world-class session musicians from Tennessee and includes David Hood of Muscle Shoals Sound and Steve Cropper who co-wrote �Dock of the Bay� and �In the Midnight Hour�. The band performs together just once a year for the Jack Daniel's Birthday JD Set. Previous birthday artists include Patti Smith, Frank Black, Richard Hawley, Juliette Lewis, and Editors.

It's easy to see why the Birthday JD Set has become such a magical moment in rock history with its innovative and unique collaborations. When the music starts at sunset on Barbecue Hill overlooking the small town of Lynchburg & the distillery below you know you're in for a once in a lifetime musical memory to treasure forever.

The New Silver Cornet Band is made up of artists schooled in the heritage of rock and roll from the home of music - Nashville:
- Jon Tiven (lead guitar) - responsible for bringing the band together, Tiven is a successful producer who worked with Frank Black on his two Nashville albums
- Craig Kampf (drummer) - played with Steve Perry, Alice Cooper and put the cowbells on Bob Dylan's �Lay Lady Lay�
- David Hood (bassist) - founding member of Muscle Shoals Sound and has produced and written for The Rolling Stones and Willie Nelson
- Billy Block (percussionist) - worked with Jackson Brown, Ellis Hooks and Al Green
- Steve Cropper (electric guitar) - founding member of Booker T and the MG's. Co-wrote �Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay� with Otis Reading and In The Midnight Hour with Wilson Pickett

Just 200 people will be lucky enough to attend the Birthday JD Set and www.hughcornwell.com is giving away two tickets to experience a night of unforgettable solos & unique collaborations which help make it a once in a lifetime rock and roll experience. The gig takes place on BBQ Hill overlooking the Jack Daniel Distillery where every drop is made.

The trip (17 -19 October) also includes a southern style barbecue, tasting and tour of the distillery, International travel and four star accommodation. Entrants must be over 21 and UK residents with valid passports. Age, ability to travel and compliance with US immigration criteria must be verified within 3 days of prize notification.

To enter all you need to do is order a copy of the new Hugh Cornwell Hooverdam/Blueprint Digipak (or plus vinyl, but NOT vinyl only, directly from www.hughcornwell.com or www.hooverdamdownload.com before competition deadline of September 20TH 2008. All names will be put into a hat and one will be drawn out by Hugh himself at the offices of Spring PR, who will be acting as independent adjudicators.

Please see here for full terms and conditions.

Make Mr Jack's birthday a memorable one. Please drink responsibly.

Hugh will be touring the UK in September and there are no band gigs booked for June. As always, please be aware that as soon as Hugh's live dates are confirmed, they are posted on this website.

If you are not already a member, please join Hugh's email news list to be notified of all Hugh Cornwell tour dates, releases etc. Further details can be found here.

It's been a pleasure keeping you all informed of Hugh's live dates, releases etc, and I can assure you that the quality of Hugh's website will continue, as it is being left in very capable hands (no pun intended).

I want to thank Hugh & David for the opportunity to run this site, and for the free hand they gave me in how it was designed and run. It's been extremely rewarding watching the site grow over the past 10 years, and I've enjoyed making contact with Hugh's fans from all over the world. Whilst I will certainly appreciate the extra time on my hands, I will miss running the site, and I will miss the day to day contact with David Fagence, but I am left with lots of happy memories - which include the early days of the (sadly missed) "Wired" email list, and the buzz of trying to get Hugh's BEF diary (direct from New Orleans & NY) online as quickly as I could! It's been a real blast.

Ok, Oscar length speech over, I'm off to catch up on 10 years worth of films and books. See you over at the Punkforums! Tony Kinson

The Hugh Cornwell albums Beyond Elysian Fields, Footprints In The Desert, Mayday & Guilty, plus the
Sons Of Shiva album, are available to be purchased and downloaded, as individual tracks or complete albums,
from Napster UK .

As a promotional tool to introduce/ re-introduce himself to the Blondie audience, Hugh released a limited edition live album entitled
Live it and breathe it that was only available in the tour venues.

The CD was made up of live recordings taken from the London Academy sessions from 2005. The tracklisting is……

1 Duchess 2 Beauty On The Beach 3 Nice n’ Sleazy 4 Picked Up By The Wind 5 Hanging Around 6 Cadiz 7 Always The Sun 8 Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit 9 Sweden 10 Under Her Spell 11 No More Heroes 12 Walk On By
*
All of these live recordings will be available in the Autumn of 2006 on a triple live CD entitled People; Places; Pieces and will include every track recorded from all three nights performances at the Academy. Hugh and his management are making this known now so that any fan who decides to buy the limited edition is very clear as to the situation.

(Under Her) Spell was released as a single on 31/1/05 Track Records in three formats, two CD singles and 7" vinyl.

You can watch the the video to (Under Her) Spell over at Hugh's MySpace.

Hugh performed a four track live session, plus interview for the Capital Gold network, which was broadcast in mid October. Beyond Elysian Fields was chosen as joint album of the week, with Elvis Costello, for the week beginning Monday 11th October on the Capital Gold Network.